Emergency warning and management in dam rupture using online mapping

Abstract: The work presented in this paper was developed in the context of a NATO Science for Stabilityproject (NATO PO FLOODRISK- Dam Break Flood Risk Management in Portugal) that aimed todevelop tools to improve the management of flood hazards in downstream valleys of dams. Theresults of the project were applied to the Arade Valley, in the south of Portugal.The tools developed by the project involved the following: the Daminfo system, which incorporateda database holding relevant information on Portuguese dams associated with geographic data; a setof dam break models, developed in the context of the case-study in order to identify and display arange of critical inundation areas; and DamAid, an emergency warning and management system fordam ruptures.This paper describes the design and development of DamAid. Its main purpose is to provideauthorities with enough information to produce decisions in real time, with a step-by-step reminderof the emergency plans' procedures, and with sufficiently robust tools to enable the gathering ofdecision-makers that are geographically apart. The system is based on existing plans' definitions andprocedures for emergencies that may occur in the Arade valley and includes the necessary (preemergency)information to aid decision-makers during the emergency period. It also includes anonline mapping application integrating the information developed to evaluate the situation duringthe several steps of the emergency plan.